Prince William fell for Kate Middleton when she set fire to the runway in 2002

Prince William and Kate Middleton are now the epitome of what a perfect couple looks like, but that wasn’t always the case.

The Duke of Cambridge began his love story with the duchess on a rather clumsy note as recalled in Channel 5’s documentary, William & Kate: Too Good to be True?

William had always been popular with the ladies but one look at Kate led to all his charm going out the window.

The two had met in 2001 during college and had interacted in the same social circles and even took up the same course.

Royal author Tom Quinn recalled: "One of the funny stories is he was so desperate to meet her that as he walked towards her, he apparently tripped and said, 'Oh that's a terrible start, you're going to think I'm a complete clot.”

Kate let out a chuckle and that was the start of their friendship that stood strong.

Later when Kate set fire to the runway in the iconic Don’t Walk fashion show in 2002, William was completely smitten by her beauty and decided to make a move.

The prince had purchased a front-row seat for £220 to watch 19-year-old Kate walk the ramp, and had even reportedly told his friend Fergus Boyd: “Wow, Fergus, Kate's hot!"

Royal correspondent Simon Vigar said in the documentary: “When they were at university at St Andrews, I have it on good authority that one of the few girls not chasing William or trying to catch his eye was Catherine.”

"If that's true, she played an absolute blinder. He was definitely the target of lots of Sloaney girls there at university, but it wasn't until the infamous fashion show that William noticed Catherine. We've always been led to believe that Kate had another boyfriend at the time and William might have still been dating one of his old Highgrove-era girls, but neither of those relationships lasted long."

They got closer together when they moved into a private home with two other friends in their second year of college.

At the time of his engagement interview in 2009, William had recalled: “She's got a really naughty sense of humour, which really helps me because I've got a really dirty sense of humour so it was good fun, we had a really good laugh, and then things happened.”

Looking back at their history, Kate had said at the time: "I actually went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off feeling very shy about meeting you.”

"William wasn't there for quite a bit of the time initially, he wasn't there from Fresher's Week, so it did take a bit of time for us to get to know each other, but we did become very close friends from quite early on."

William and Kate have now been married since nine years and are parents to George, Charlotte and Louis.